With the Bulls currently down four crucial cogs in Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Kris Dunn and Otto Porter Jr., a new Jim Boylen catchphrase — of sorts — has emerged around both the Advocate and United Centers. The Bulls' coach reiterated it after the team’s Wednesday afternoon practice.
“When you have injuries, it does give an opportunity for somebody else to play and to develop that player with his minutes.”
Circle Thad Young as one that has made the most with increased opportunity of late.
Since an MRI revealed a stress reaction in Lauri Markkanen's pelvis on Jan. 23, Young has started six games in his stead, averaging 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals on 58.1% shooting. Boylen highlighted Young’s steadiness defensively and improved long-range efficiency (41.7% from 3 in his last 11 games) as essential and encouraging.
But crucially, Young has also played 31.6 minutes per game since slotting into the starting lineup, up markedly from the 22.3 he averaged in the first 45 games of the season. He’s also second on the Bulls in shot attempts per game (10.3) since Markkanen went down.
“I’ve been able to go out there and just play, go out there and hoop," Young said when asked what's behind his improvements. "And also the last couple weeks, the minutes have changed. I’ve been playing more. The more and more you play, the more you get acclimated to the game, the more and more you get acclimated to your teammates, and what we’re trying to do out there. So I think that’s been better for me, just the increase of minutes and me being able to go out there and play longer spurts.”
Essential as context for that remark are Young’s previous grievances about his smaller-than-advertised role with the team. The Chicago Sun-Times was the first to publicly report Young’s displeasure on Dec. 12 — since Dec. 11, when Young logged a then-season-high 33 minutes in a blowout victory over Atlanta, he’s averaged 25.5 minutes per game and is shooting 47% from the field, compared to 21.2 minutes and 40.9% shooting in 24 games prior.
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All of which is to say, Young seems more comfortable with his minutes allotment now, and his recent play is evidence.
Still, even Young’s slightly improved season-long average of 23.4 minutes per game is the second-lowest of his 13-year career, and trade winds continue to swirl. The Clippers have been linked to Young as a possible suitor since December.
“It's not the first time, so me, I just take it and go,” Young said, when asked how he handles rumors. “Whatever's said is said and whatever happens, happens. I understand the business of basketball. I understand how the league works, so I'm not worried about that at all.”
He added, of his talks with management (Bulls VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson and GM Gar Forman were both in attendance at Wednesday’s practice): “We haven’t talked about trades or anything like that. The only thing we’ve talked about is going out there and trying to win as many games as possible.”
There’s a compelling argument that the Bulls would be best off flipping Young to a contender before the deadline. Doing so could (depending on the players coming back) free the team up some cap-wise, while also doing right by Young and allowing him a chance to play meaningful basketball come spring.
Young has two years remaining on the three-year, $41 million pact he signed with the Bulls last offseason, the second of which is partially guaranteed for $6 million, per Spotrac. The more he plays like he has been lately, the more swallowable those years look to outside teams, especially considering what he's proven he can provide over the course of his career.
Boylen maintained that the trade buzz around the team is tempered, for now.
"I don’t think there’s much going on. I think overall it’s been light around the league, not only us," Boylen said. "There was one big trade, but we all kind of saw that coming. So we’ll wait to see. We’ve got another day. Sometimes things pick up, sometimes they don’t. We’ll just worry about coaching our guys, developing our guys.’’
Whichever path the organization takes with Young, there’s no doubt that he has increased his value over the last couple of weeks. Whether that value is of the ‘trade’ or ‘team’ variety, the Bulls will take it in a season marred by general underachievement.
Young’s veteran leadership, at least, appears to have been a constant through it all.
“I think I’ve been helping the guys grow. I’ve been helping teach the guys in certain situations, this is how we have to play and what we have to do,” Young said. “I think I’ve been going out there and doing exactly what they’ve asked of me and the guys expect from me, so I just got to continue to keep doing that and helping these guys get better everyday.”
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